Germany’s state-owned banks (“Landesbanken”) have been central actors in the country’s economic success since the mid-19th century. Yet, during the recent economic crisis, Germany’s state-owned banks performed far worse than their private sector counterparts. Although they comprise 21 percent of all bank activity in Germany prior to the crisis, Landesbanken accounted for 41 percent of the financial losses. In addition, a number of well-established and large Landesbanken fell into conservatorship, closed, and were taken over by other institutions.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together leading international scholars from different perspectives (economics, political science, sociology, industrial relations) to further develop an emerging research area:  the dynamics of financialization and their impact on the employment relations and industrial relations at the company level. A special focus will be on developments since the financial crisis.

Agricultural biotechnology (ABT) has become a major issue of concern in global politics. Since the first commercialization of biotech crops, global acreage, market value, private and public research and intellectual property rights concentration have increased considerably. Yet, the worldwide spread of agricultural biotechnology has been contested both globally and locally.

While most literature on neoliberalism argues it can only be understood through its variety and geographic specificity, accounts still often emphasise two particular narratives. Firstly, that neoliberalism was implemented in its vanguard phase by governments of the Right (such as those of Thatcher and Reagan, with similar policies subsequently adopted by social democratic parties). Secondly, that neoliberalism is primarily a coercive project (e.g. direct attacks on unions and the working class, imposition of structural adjustment, the Pinochet dictatorship).

Global standards in corporate financial and social reporting have attracted lots of attention from policy makers, and become an expanding field of research over the last few decades. A similar discussion about different approaches to reporting regulation has been largely missing in the non-corporate sector, in particular in the area of international development.

Academic quality production delivered by research universities is to a large extent an outcome of the way these institutions are functioning as organi­zations. Current literature basically focuses on an input-output model: the more resources are invested, the higher the quality. This paper tests another hypothesis that is of some importance, since top uni­versities are emerging around the world and especially in Far East Asia.

Those who argue that multilateralism is in crisis typically point to the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations under the WTO and the post-Kyoto negotiations under the UNFCCC as Exhibits A and B. Both sets of negotiations have moved at a glacial pace over the past decade, are plagued by mistrust and major divisions among hardened negotiating blocs, and have so far failed to fulfil their basic purposes.

The recent meltdown of the financial markets and the lack of progress on announced financial reforms at the international level have stimulated debates about power in the field of finance. What role do financial institutions have in influencing the regulatory process? What has been achieved since the financial crisis? These questions will be addressed by experts from academia, NGOs, and think tanks in this roundtable discussion.

A brownbag seminar by Prof. Dr. Markus Wissen, Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin.

Ein Vortrag von Prof. Val Burris, Universität Oregon, im Rahmen der Brownbag-Serie der Projektgruppe "Modes of Economic Governance".

Ein Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brand, Universität Wien, im Rahmen der Brownbag-Serie der Projektgruppe "Modes of Economic Governance".

A brownbag seminar by Lukas Graf, WZB, in cooperation with the WZB project group "Modes of Economic Governance".

The workshop serves to present and discuss the results of the research on the New Direction Foundation and the network of national think tanks (24 organizations) linked to the European foundation of the (right wing) European Parliament Group of Conservatives and Reformists (about 50 MEPs). The information has been collected over five months in collaboration with country experts and is presented at the website of the Think Tank Network Research Initiative. 

Die Öffentlichkeit erwartet in zunehmendem Maße, dass Investoren in ihren Entscheidungen nicht nur die Rendite, sondern auch soziale und Umweltaspekte berücksichtigen. Sind deutsche Finanzinstitute verantwortungsvolle Investoren geworden und haben sie diese Erwartungen erfüllt? In einer Podiumsdiskussion mit Vertretern aus Finanzindustrie, Wissenschaft und Initiativen für verantwortungsvolles Handeln werden diese Fragen thematisiert.

Dorothee Bohle und Béla Greskovits stellen mit „Capitalist Diversity on Europe‘s Periphery“ ein Buch auf dem neuesten Stand der empirisch vergleichenden Kapitalismusforschung zur Diskussion (Cornell Studies in Political Economy 2012, herausgegeben von Peter Katzenstein).